Turn The Page
by Ian Reid
Summary: A short Zukocentric I felt like writing. Zuko's latest dream has told him to turn the page in the story of his life. But what will happen when he does? Chapter 2 added...
1. Chapter 1

Turn the Page  
By  
Ian Gainsborough

Author's Note: I know, I know, "Ian! What are you doing?! Shouldn't you be working on Long Way From Here instead of writing up another story? What's the deal!?" Truth is, I had a lot of thought in this concept, and I needed to get on it while I still have the ideas, otherwise I'll never get around to it, it rots, and then some other writer comes up with the same concept and totally murders it! Screw that!

Chapter 1

Zuko drifted weightlessly through the pitch-black void. He had no determination of ground or sky, and felt distant from his body. He looked around, and all around he saw nothing. He felt nothing, save for the feeling of his skin crawling across his body. It felt unnatural. He peered around, wishing for something—anything—to give him a sign of what to do.

The void dissolved to his reflection in the mirror, his face unmarred by any burning scar that only hurt when he touched it. His face was as it was those years before his home became the sea and the ground he wandered for so long. Zuko's lips parted and bent a smile, his teeth gleaming white as the moon. His golden eyes squinted with the smile he told himself to never show to anyone. He closed his eyes as tears fell down both his cheeks; it felt strange, only feeling tears down his right cheek, but never his left. He closed his eyes, only briefly.

When he opened them, his reflection was replaced with the Avatar, the broad, goofy grin of the little Air bender that had eluded him for so long: so close and in his grasp, but never there to settle his heart and almost always turning his satisfaction into rage and frustration. He punched through the mirror, shattering the pieces that made up Aang's face, only to realize before him his Uncle stood there. Iroh caught the punch, and Zuko was head over heels and on his back the next moment. He looked up at Iroh, then at Azula, then to Father, then to Mai, and then at his younger child self.

"His story has come to an end," said Zuko's child-self.

"Or so he thinks," said Iroh.

"He doesn't really know what to do now, does he?" said Mai plainly.

"Perhaps all he has to do is turn the page," said Iroh. Zuko's lips moved, but no words left them. The images of Iroh, Father, Azula and Mai disintegrated, but Zuko's eyes remained locked on the smiling child that he once was, and the words, "Turn the page" echoed through his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Zuko opened his eyes, the image of himself as a child remaining before fading away and being replaced with the ceiling of his cabin. He sat up. Around him, his senses tuned in to everything: the lapping of water outside, the dim lights in his room, Mai's warm body sleeping peacefully next to him, and footsteps approaching the door to his cabin. Zuko looked to his left as the door opened and Azula, his sister stood there.  
"I wondered where Mai went last night," she said, crossing the cabin's floor and shaking Mai awake. Mai grumbled herself to the point her incoherency became audible and more enunciated, rubbing her eyes.  
"Azula, what it is?" she asked. She looked about, her blurred vision focusing on the topless Zuko sitting there beside her.

"How did I get here?"  
"Through the door, of course," retorted Azula, patting Mai's face to bring her around. Mai yawned and got out of Zuko's bed, kissing him good morning and walking away with Azula back to her quarters.

Zuko had pulled a shirt over his shoulders and went topside, finding their ship docked in the wharf. He was finally home again. It was a feeling of unease, even when he set foot for the first time in three years on the harbor with his sister. He stepped into the ostrich-horse-drawn carriage with Azula, Mai and Ty Lee, and the carriage rattled down the street before arriving at the Fire Palace. In those few minutes, Zuko's eyes slid closed, trying to concentrate on the dream from before, but found no such avail except Mai's soft lips on his. His eyes drifted open to Mai as she pulled back.

"Are you alright?" she asked gently, her face bending in a smirk. Zuko's head throbbed as he put more concentration into remembering the dream.  
"I had a dream," he said, "You were in it."  
"What was it about?"  
"What's it matter? It was just a dream."

The carriage jerked to a halt and the door opened, Zuko following his sister onto the bright red carpet that led into the Palace followed by Mai and Ty Lee respectively. On either side, attendants and servants and guards bowed as Zuko and Azula passed.

Zuko was dressed in his royal arraignment; his hair tied back and kept in place as always. He walked the halls of his palace, the floor seeming to reflect his face as it had even those early years when he learned to walk. He memorized every path; five lefts and three rights to the kitchens, seven rights and three lefts to the courtyard, alternating left and right to the fourth power to reach the Hall of the Fire lords, and he even learned a secret passage from his chambers to the cellar that Uncle Iroh taught him before he went to lay siege to Ba Sing Se. But Zuko was headed to see his father, the tall and proud Ozai, who sat behind the curling flames. Zuko stopped before the curtain. For some reason, he knew somehow what he was doing wasn't right. He felt out of place. He felt like he didn't deserve to be here. He took a breath, pushed the curtain aside, and stepped through.

The searing heat from the flames that raked across his face those years before felt hotter for some reason. Even when setting his forehead to the floor, its cool surface did not bring the comfort he needed from this heat. Fire was such… a dangerous thing. Zuko remained bowed before his father, waiting for the words he was trained to obey like a dog.

"Rise, my son."

Ozai said those words with such a calm, collective voice. It was like he had no care for the world or the war transpiring. Zuko stared long through the flames that hid father's stone-etched face, trying to find some detail that tried to make him look less demonic and look more human. Such a detail Zuko could not find. In all his life, Zuko could not remember his father cracking a single smile. Never except for when Azula demonstrated her Fire bending prowess in front of grandfather Azulon. Ozai descended from his seat and circled round Zuko.

"In these few minutes time, I thought it'd be nice to talk with you," he said. "I want to hear about your travels, your conquests, your graces.

Zuko's eyes burned to keep back tears. Failure. That was all he had when he traveled the world: failure for not conquering a single village, not a person, in the name of his father.

"I was told you had an Ag Ni Kai with Zhao," said Ozai. Those words could have frozen Zuko's blood the moment they touched his ears.  
"He fought valiantly," said Zuko, bringing back the memories. "Uncle had a hand in helping me, though, and I let Zhao live."

Ozai's silence was devastating to Zuko's soul.

"I am proud that you let Zhao live," said Ozai finally. "Otherwise, it would have proven folly to our conquest. I heard of his demise at the North Pole. He fought until his very end. But he never achieved what you had, my son." Ozai clapped his hands to Zuko's shoulders. It was like the grip of a wild hog-monkey. And while the leather padding provided some relief, Zuko could still feel the grip of his father. The grip loosened, and Ozai ascended to his seat behind the flames.  
"That is all the time we have. The war council meeting will start in a few minutes, Zuko. Enjoy the day."

As Zuko stepped out from behind the curtains, several grizzled old Generals stood waiting. They bowed to Zuko, and he bowed back. They shuffled through the curtain, and left the Fire-Prince alone in that corridor.

Something seemed wrong about father for some reason. Zuko wasn't sure what it was truly, but he never knew his father could be…warm. Proud? Of a lie his sister told? Did he know his sister was lying? Zuko closed his eyes as these thoughts swirled like a stirred bowl of water. He hasn't been to see his uncle for a few weeks.

Uncle…


End file.
